Chapter 57

The bulk of the Fire and Lightning Armies stared at each other in the midmorning sun. Several hundred yards, far enough to render arrows ineffective, were all that separated the two forces.

Hidden inside the vanguard of Fire, beyond the view of those who might care, were the 9 surviving genin dispatched to aid the Fire Daimyo. Iruka and Mizuki were among them, scraping by and evading death by the skin of their teeth time and time again.

The Fire Daimyo was not an unnecessarily cruel man, and it was not his decision that sent the genin, children really, to the front of the army. It was the situation. They were skilled fighters, and he needed them at the front. There was no other way. And all of the children still evacuating the capitol? All the children that would die if Lightning wasn't stopped here? A small sacrifice here and now to save a million more children.

It was necessary. He had no choice but to send them in. They were ninja, they were more likely to survive. They signed up for this. He wasn't a bad person, he was just doing what was necessary. He was sure. He didn't doubt himself. He didn't question his decision. He was right.

Or at least he kept telling himself.

From a nearby ridge, Yama was forced to watch the battle unfold, and the voices never stopped whispering poison into his ears.

They blamed him for all of this. He had failed. He caused this.

It was his fault.

He had heard it all before, and it was because of that that Yama's will held strong and Hatred could not take full control over his body.

There was no one more critical of him than himself. Everything that the voices had to say to him, he had said to himself already. He accepted all of himself, flaws, insecurities, and doubts. The whole experience was what made him him.

In spite of failure, in spite of despair, in spite of everything, he would never give up. That was what made Yama Yama.

After so many years, so many memories, so many moments that blurred together in the river of time, there was the only thing that had never changed, one thing Yama had always had.

The Guts to Never Give Up!

Off to the side of the main battlefield, the shinobi of Kumo and Konoha faced one another, the forces, spread thin over a several mile stretch, allowed each and every ninja team enough room to fight and maneuver. Unlike common soldiers that underwent a qualitative upgrade in fighting force when focused together in rank and file, shinobi decreased in effectiveness the more crowded their surroundings were by allies.

Jutsu were too large and engendered too much collateral damage when surrounded by allies, leading to a more dispersed form of warfare that favored skirmishes and frequent, short engagements.

A battle like that of Kannabi Bridge was fairly unusual, the bridge and canyon naturally funneling Iwa forces towards Minato. Out here, in the fields only a few days march from the heart of Fire Country, there were no such features to concentrate the battle.

Such a situation was terrible for Konoha. One of the downsides to having your forces so far spread from each other is that any individual team could easily be surrounded, isolated, and picked off. With Kumo shinobi having the large numerical advantage over Konoha, the current skirmishes that had been erupting all morning and throughout the previous night were heavily favoring the Village Hidden in the Clouds.

Minato and Jiraiya, sitting in reserve at Konoha Central Command, could only watch the casualties roll in hour after hour. Those who came back with injuries were the lucky ones, for more than a few patrols went out but never returned.

Minato, outwardly calm and collected, was burning inside with icy rage as he watched more and more of his ninja come back injured or in body scrolls. Jiraiya kept him company, and he was uncharacteristically quiet, none of his usual antics on display.

A and Bee had not yet revealed themselves, and until they did, Minato and Jiraiya were tied in place, simply waiting on them. The S-ranked duo could go out and reinforce Konoha shinobi, and their presence would surely limit casualties, but that would leave them tired and fatigued eventually.

Then, if they had to face off against the AB duo of Kumo, that would be suicide. They had no other choice but to go into battle at their peak performance. That was the best thing they could do for their forces, because it also went the other way. A and Bee could not enter the battle lightly either, because Minato and Jiraiya would ambush them as they tired.

It was a stalemate of sorts, with Konoha weakening by the hour. The question was whether Konoha could hold out until Hiruzen or Orochimaru could reinforce them after their own engagements. One more S-rank shinobi would possibly tip the scales in Konoha's favor, at least make the losses Kumo would have to endure unpalatable enough to drive them back.

Konoha was fighting a war for survival, and they would fight to the last man or woman. Kumo was fighting for conquest, and if their nose was bloodied enough, they would go home, that was the hope. Kumo would avoid a fight to the death.

Kumogakure had its own plans though. Konoha wanted to stall, and Kumo wanted to push the tempo.

A hawk bearing the seal of the Land of Lightning on a kerchief around its neck flew into the Konoha Camp while carrying a message addressed to Minato Namikaze directly. After a quick screen to ensure that it was safe, the message was passed through the chain of command until it ended up in Minato's hands. As he read it, a slight frown started to form on his face.

Jiraiya looked over his student's shoulder to read it at the same time.

To the Yellow Flash-

I do not wish to destroy Konoha.

I want the opposite. I want it to flourish.

The village has been held stagnant for so many years by constant wars, and having to defend itself from all sides.

I offer an end to that. An alliance closer than an alliance.

The merging of Konoha and Kumo, and from that joining, a village that can mobilize towards Iwa, Kiri, and Suna, with them falling before our combined might. Shared Jutsu. Shared Missions. Shared People. We would give unto you as much as we would take. Equals moving forward. Equals in more than name, we would be one in the same.

All Shinobi, united under one banner, and an end to all these wars. True and meaningful Peace, not the false one bought into existence through fear and destruction by Hashirama Senju and Bijuu.

For too long, shinobi have been played against one another by Daimyos, this war right now the best example.

Shinobi vs Shinobi. Killing eachother's children, killing our friends, fathers, and brothers.

We are beholden to the Daimyo because we are fragmented.

As my forbears joined the tribes of Lightning, so would we join the villages!

If we joined, we would throw the yoke of the Daimyo, and we would live for ourselves, as is our right!

You do not believe me, as you should not. You think that I send you honeyed words that promise one thing, and you think to yourself that my vision for the future only means subservience to Kumo by Konoha. You think I talk of conquest and bloodline theft.

You think me a liar, and that we will not be equals, that I will not treat your people as my people.

You are right to think this way. You are right to doubt me. Shinobi are liars, and you can only judge them by their actions.

But I will show you my sincerity, and when you and I sit amicably at the same table, regaling future generations with stories of war, as the children look on with starry eyes yearning for adventure, and we look back at them with tired ones that have seen too much, that is when you will know that I spoke truly.

But you do not believe me.

For this we must fight, and after the stronger fist has decided the future, mine speaking for cooperation, and yours for independence, then we will go our separate or entwined ways.

By the time this message reaches you, my forces will have started to pull back from any engagements.

I and my Brother will come to you, seeking a duel for the lives and futures of both our villages.

You can decline, as is your right, and I have but one way to force your hand.

If you do not face me and my brother, we will attack your shinobi directly.

Yes, that would open our own forces to the same threat by you, but you are a smart man.

You are a Kage, and you do not wish for your men to die, same as I.

If you avoid us, and directly attack Kumo shinobi, as we do the same to your own, all that will be left will be us three and corpses by the end of the day.

And at that point, with great enmity, we will kill one another.

Why not skip all that and just duel in the beginning?

Fourth Raikage A

As Minato clenched the paper in his hands and poured over the words time and time again, Jiriaya took a big step back and whistled low and drawn out.

"He's got you there, kid. You're gonna have to fight him and his brother.

He's got your character pegged dead nuts. If you were someone like Hanzo, you would ignore this and simply kill the entire Kumo force, leading to a Pyrrhic victory. But you wouldn't do that would you? That unyielding character of yours, that self-sacrificial nature, the desire to never let a comrade down, that's why Sarutobi-sensei made you Hokage."

Minato grimaced at his Sensei's words and Jiraiya continued.

"He's got us in a corner. He won't let us wait for reinforcements, and he has a way to force the issue.

All we can do is go along with his plan and hope for the best.

You should get ready for battle."

Minato stared at his sensei, and with that patented smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, stared back at Jiraiya.

"Don't you mean we should get ready for battle?

Did you forget what you're here for?"

Jiraiya froze for a half second before laughing uproariously and throwing his head back.

As he guffawed and held onto his stomach with one hand, his other hand reached out and clapped Minato on the back hard enough to stumble the shorter and thinner man.

"I did forget you brat, and don't talk to your sensei like that!

I deserve respect!"